I agree with the general gist of the article, for one specific reason: the non-competes discussed don't come with any pay.
In much of trading-related finance, non-competes or garden leaves are ubiquitous, with periods lasting between 6 months and 2 years. However, they are usually paid, and in many cases paid well (more than your annual base salary). In my view, this makes sense: you may have learned a trading strategy that is highly valuable to the firm you are leaving and it is expected to decay over time. You are being compensated not to share this with competition.
In that context, I eagerly sign non-competes with the expectation of having 6-18 months paid vacation at some point in the future. Some non-compete periods can be _glorious_. A guy in Chicago sued his former employer to have his non-compete enforced (and thus collect a massive pay cheque): https://www.natlawreview.com/article/employer-s-waiver-non-c...
In much of trading-related finance, non-competes or garden leaves are ubiquitous, with periods lasting between 6 months and 2 years. However, they are usually paid, and in many cases paid well (more than your annual base salary). In my view, this makes sense: you may have learned a trading strategy that is highly valuable to the firm you are leaving and it is expected to decay over time. You are being compensated not to share this with competition.
In that context, I eagerly sign non-competes with the expectation of having 6-18 months paid vacation at some point in the future. Some non-compete periods can be _glorious_. A guy in Chicago sued his former employer to have his non-compete enforced (and thus collect a massive pay cheque): https://www.natlawreview.com/article/employer-s-waiver-non-c...